Marble shooter



May 7, 1957 VOG f AL 2,791,210

- MARBLE SHOOTER Filed Jan. 4, 1955 IN VEN TORS Abe/v4 E V06 & HAROLD M Q4N LL,

United States Patent MARBLE. SHOOTER Norman E. Vog, Washington, D. C., and Harold M. Randall, Mt. Rainier, Md.

Application January 4, 1955, Serial No. 479,801 2 Claims. (Cl. 124-16) A further object is to hold the marble in proper position in front of the marble shooter and to' enable the user to direct the propulsion of the marble.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this invention which embodies among its features a marble shooter comprising a casing, yielding jaws carried by the casing and extending longitudinally therefrom adjacent one end thereof for gripping a marble and holding it between said jaws in spaced relation to the adjacent end of the casing, and means carried by and extending through the end of a casing adjacent the jaws for movement longitudinally through said end of the casing and engagement with a marble held between the jaws to propel said marble away from the casing.

Other features include a plunger mounted in the end of the casing adjacent the jaws for movement therethrough, yielding means within the casing and engaging the plunger for urging it outwardly between the jaws and engaging a marble held between the jaws for propelling it away from the casing, andreleasable means carried by the casing and engaging theplunger for restraining, its movement under the influence of the'yielding'means.

Still other features include notches opening through one side of the plunger'to define longitudinally spaced teeth, a latch dogcarried by the-casing for releasably engaging a tooth and holding the plunger against movement under the influence of the yielding means, and a push button carried by the casing and extending through one side thereof for engaging the latch dog and disengaging it from the plunger.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side view of the marble shooter embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the marble shooter illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the marble shooter showing a marble held in place ready for shooting and the plunger of the marble shooter retracted;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the yielding jaws showing them as they would appear when removed from the casing.

Referring to the drawings in detail, this improved marble shooter comprises a casing constructed of mating halves 10 and 12, each comprising a trough-shaped body 14 having longitudinally spaced transversely extending partitions 16 and 16" extending therethrough intermediate the ends thereof. An end wall 18 is carried by each half or body 14 and the partitions 16, 16' and the end wall .stood upon reference to the drawings.

- 2,794,240 Patented May 7, 1957 18 are provided with aligning recesses 20 and 22, respectively, which, when the halves are joined together as illustrated in Figures 2 and 4, define aligned openings, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear. Carried by each half 14 and extending outwardly therefrom intermediate the ends thereof is a housing 26 defining a chamber 28 which opens into the interior of its respective housing between the partitions 16 and 16. Carried by each body 14 and projecting into each chamber 28 adjacent its respective partition 16' are transversely spaced cars 30 through which extends a pivot pin 32. The mating bodies 14 are joined together adjacent opposite ends by transversely extending screws 34 and 36.

Opening through the end of each mating body 14 adjacent its respective end wall 18 is a longitudinally extending groove 38 which groove also opens through the side,

of its respective body 14 adjacent the adjacent side or mating body.

Mounted for longitudinal sliding movement in the aligned openings defined by the recesses 20, 20' and 22 in the mating bodies 14 is a plunger 40 carrying a transversely extending cross pin 42 adjacent and in spaced relation to the end which projects through the opening defined by the mating recesses 22, and surrounding said plunger 40 between the partition 16 and the end wall 18 is a compression coiled spring 44, one end of which bears on the partition 16', while the opposite end bears on the cross pin 42 to yieldingly urge the plunger outwardly through the end wall 18, as will be readily under- The plunger is provided with notches which extend outwardly through the side thereof adjacent the chamber 28 to define teeth 50, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

Mounted for rocking movement on the pivot pin 32 is a latch lever 52 carrying adjacent one end a latch dog 54 which extends between the partitions 16 and 16 and is adapted to engage a tooth 50 to hold the plunger 40 against movement under the influence of the spring 44. A leaf spring 56 is carried by the housings 14 within the chamber 28 and bears on the lever 52 to urge the latch dog 54 into the path of movement of the teeth 50 so that as the plunger is moved inwardly against the efiort of the spring 44, the latch dog 54 will engage the teeth 50 to hold the plunger in a selected position against movement under the influence of the spring 44. As illustrated in Figure 3, the mating halves 14 are provided with recesses 58 defining a passage which opens into the chamber 28, and mounted for sliding movement in said passage is a push button 60 which bears on the lever 52 in such a manner that pressure on the push button 60 will rock the lever 52 against the effort of the spring 56 to disengage the dog 54 from a tooth 50 to thereby release the plunger 40 for movement under the effort of the spring 44.

A marble holder designated generally 62 comprises parallel spring arms 64 joined at one end by a cross member 66 and carrying adjacent their opposite ends outwardly extending loops 68 which lie to one side of the longitudinal axis of the arms 64 along the common axis which, as illustrated, is offset to one side of the arms 64 so that when the cross member 66 is entered into the space defined by the grooves 38, the arms 64 will project outwardly from the adjacent end of the shooter and together with the aligned loops 70 will define yielding jaws between which a marble M may be supported in axial alignment with the longitudinal axis of the plunger 40. A suitable ferrule 70 of cushioning material is carried by the end of the plunger which extends outwardly between the arms 64 so as to cushion the impact of the plunger on the marble M. Carried by the end of the plunger remote from the ferrule 70 is a head 72 which slides within the pocket 74 defined within the mating body members 14 between the partition 16 and the end of the marble shooter remote from the end wall 18. A ring 76 of cushioning material encircles the plunger 40 between the head 72 and the partition 16 so as to cushion the impact of the head 72 on the partition 16 under the influence of the spring 44.

In use, it will be evident that with a marble mounted between the yielding jaws defined by the loops 68 with the plunger moved inwardly against the effort of the spring and the latch dog 54 engaged with a selected tooth 50, pressure on the push button 60 will release the plunger 40 for movement under the influence of the spring 44 so that the cushioning ferrule 70 will be driven forcibly against the marble M to propel it in a selected direction. Obviously, the force of propulsion of the marble M may be regulated by the distance that the plunger is moved against the effort of the spring 44 and consequently the force of propulsion of the marble is directly under the control of the user.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a marble shooter, an elongated hollow casing having a forward end and-a rear end, and opposed longitudinal side walls, a forward end Wall closing the forward end of the casing and provided with an opening, a rear partition in and extending across the interior of the casing and spaced forwardly from the rear end of the casing, a forward partition in and extending across the interior of the casing and spaced forwardly from said rear partition, a plunger in said casing having a forward end and a rear end, said partitions having openings through which the plunger slidably extends, an enlarged stop head on the rear end of the plunger behind said rear partition, a marble striking head on the forward end of the plunger in front of the forward end wall of the casing, a lateral pin on the plunger within the casing near said forward end wall, a helical spring on the plunger and compressed between said pin and said forward partition, said casing having a wall positioned between said opposed side walls provided with an opening located between said forward and rear partitions, a spring pressed latch lever within said housing having a forward end and a rear end, said latch lever being pivoted intermediate its ends on said casing, a latchdog on the rear end of the latch lever reaching through said opening into the interior of the casing, teeth spaced along said plunger with which the latch dog is releasably engageable, spring means in said housing urging,

the latch dog toward the plunger, and a push button mounted on the housing and engageable with the forward end of the latch lever for releasing the latch dog from teeth on the plunger.

2. In a marble shooter, an elongated hollow casing having a forward end and a rear end, and opposed longitudinal side walls, a forward end wall closing the forward end of the casing and provided with an opening, a rear partition in and extending across the interior of the casing and spaced forwardly from the rear end of the casing, a forward partition in and extending across the interior of the casing and spaced forwardly from said rear partition, a plunger in said casing having a forward end and a rear end, said partitions having openings through which the plunger slidably extends, an enlarged stop head on the rear end of the plunger behind said rear partition, a marble striking head on the forward end of the plunger in front of the forward end wall of the casing, a lateral pin on the plunger within the casing near said forward end wall, a helical spring on the plunger and compresses between said pin and said forward partition, said casing having a wall positioned between said opposed side walls provided with an opening located between said forward and rear partitions, a spring pressed latch lever within said housing having a forward end and a rear end, said latch lever being pivoted intermediate its ends on said casing, a latch dog on the rear end of the latch lever reaching through said opening into the interior of the casing, teeth spaced along said plunger with which the latch dog is releasably engageable, spring means in said housing urging the latch dog toward the plunger, and a push button mounted on the housing and engageable with the forward end of the latch lever for releasing the latch dog from teeth on the plunger, and marble holding means on the forward end of the casing and projecting forwardly therefrom for holding a marble in the path of the striking head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,157,909 Teague Oct. 26, 1915 1,182,530 Doane May 9, 1916 1,604,023 Coyle Oct. 19, 1926 2,455,978 Colaluca Dec. 14, 1948 2,499,883 Shields Mar. 7, 1950 2,533,659 Yates Dec. 12, 1950 

